Fugitive Gregory Lewis Caught in Upstate New York

Gregory Lewis, the fugitive accused serial rapist who has been the subject of a multi-state manhunt in recent weeks, was arrested shortly before midnight in the Village of Fort Edward in upstate New York, said Massachusetts State Police.

Lewis, 26, was taken into custody by Fort Edward Village Police officers and a New York State Police trooper after he tried to take off, crashing his vehicle into a river.

A New York trooper saw Lewis driving with a missing plate on his vehicle and tried to stop him, but Lewis fled into Fort Edward Village. The trooper notified two Fort Edward Village patrol units and together the officers began to search for the suspect vehicle.

A short time later, police received 911 calls reporting that a vehicle had crashed into a river in the Village of Fort Edward.

Lewis reportedly emerged from the vehicle, which was sinking, and brandished a gun at a witness who heard the crash. Officers found him at the crash scene and took him into custody.

A firearm was recovered from Lewis, said police. The handgun matches the description of one Lewis is accused of stealing from a family member in September. The vehicle he was driving, while still underwater, roughly matches the description of the blue Jeep Grand Cherokee he has been believed to be driving during a spree of alleged rapes, kidnappings and robberies of female escorts in North Carolina, Colorado, and Oregon and an alleged armed robbery of an escort in Indianapolis.

Lewis was also believed to have been in Idaho, Utah, and Ohio during his alleged violent spree. Police have had intelligence suggesting he was returning east, perhaps to Massachusetts, where he allegedly raped a 13-year-old Southbridge girl during the late summer.

Lewis will be held without bail overnight at the Washington County, NY, jail and will be arraigned tomorrow in that county as a fugitive from justice.

The investigation into his alleged spree of sexual assaults and other crimes is continuing. Massachusetts authorities will seek his rendition to stand trial for the sexual assault of the Southbridge girl.

The Massachusetts State Police added Lewis to the department’s Most Wanted list several weeks ago. The state investigation into his flight from justice was led by the Massachusetts State Police and the Southbridge Police Department. The MSP’s Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section worked the case around the clock.

The Village of Fort Edward is a community of several thousand residents on the Hudson River and the Champlain Canal, near Interstate 87. It is a short distance from the Vermont border and is approximately 50 miles northwest of Massachusetts.